Eschaton
by Abydos Jackson
Summary: Where does the strength to fight your demons come from? Is it something deep within? Something you're born with? Or does it come from outside yourself, from the stories of the strength of others? A story about the relationship between the gamer and the character they create.
1. Chapter 1

A wave of nausea and dizziness drove Alexandra to her knees, her head spinning as she dug her fists into her stomach. A spiralling pain tore through her torso, twining itself around her spine, oily tentacles grasping hold and probing upwards. Her stomach twisted... and she tried to lift her head towards the light, her hand stretching out towards the source. It was so beautiful. A shimmer of blues and purples... aqua and cerulean-tinged gold swirling together in the void ahead of her.

_Got to reach it... _

Alexandra was never sure why, she just knew the pain drove her onwards,as if the light would provide relief. She started to crawl towards it, whimpering as the agony skewered barbs of twisted wire through her nerves, driving forcibly towards any point of exit. Her eyes, her ears... any channel it could find, until it felt like she'd fly apart... her pain giving birth to the chimera inside of her... the monster she couldn't rid herself of. If only she could reach it... the light ahead. Refuge. Sanctuary.

Her palms dug into the ground as she crawled... her palms slick with sweat and blood as she scrambled forever onwards, the light never seeming to get any closer. Alexandra bit down into her lip... a moan turning into a howl of pained frustration, salty tears pricking at her eyes.

_It's not fair! I... _She screamed into the darkness. _Why are you doing this to me?! Why?! _

… and woke... bathed in sweat, her stomach heaving as a band of pain tightened across her forehead. Alexandra scrambled frantically for the bucket beside her bed, fighting tears as she vomited yellow bile into it. The metallic tang against her tongue made her heave again, bitter saliva flowing into her mouth, and she spat it out in contempt, her limbs shaking as she pushed aside the covers and stumbled her way to the bathroom, clinging to the bucket in her arms.

She groaned under her breath as she turned the tap of the sink, the icy water a blessing as it tingled soothingly on her skin. She rinsed the bucket, sloshed some disinfectant at the bottom and then turned her attention to her face. _I look a fucking state._ She admonished herself as her gaunt reflection stared back at her. Skin glassy pale, eyes red-rimmed and blood streaked. She leaned forward, resting her forehead on the cool mirror and slowed her breathing until she'd calmed herself. Her nightmare was fading, but the pain remained as ghostly ripples through her abdomen.

She sighed, legs still trembling slightly as she made her way back into the bedroom, her hand tracing the walls to guide her. The bed linen was soaked with sweat, and Alexandra pulled it off in disgust, restlessly throwing it onto a heap on the floor. She rubbed her eyes and contemplated making the bed afresh, then gave it up as she glanced out of the window and saw the tell tale sign of the sun starting to rise. _Too wired anyway..._she muttered to herself under her breath, and made her way to the computer in the corner of the room. She clicked on the lamp and blinked at the harsh light glaring harshly from the monitor, pushing aside her notebook from the keyboard.

She worried her bottom lip between her teeth as her hand passed over the un-opened letter she'd been stoically ignoring for a day. It hovered instead over the plastic case of the game she'd been keeping as a treat for when things got bad. She picked it up, un-clicking the case, enjoying the crisp sound and the wafting smell of new plastic, releasing the silvery disc with a half guilty look over her shoulder. She pushed it into the disc drive and reached out a shaky hand to the half drunk glass of water beside the computer raising it to her parched lips. Her eyes never left the monitor as it flickered to life, the image on the screen one of fiery and furious destruction. A single phrase blinked at her...

_Press START._

...and Alexandra smiled wistfully to herself as her heart thudded in her chest and her fingers moved to the keyboard. "Come on then, Shephard. Let's see if we can do this."

-o-

"We fight, or we die."

The words Eve Shephard had spoken to the Defence Committee rang like a mantra in her ears as she and Anderson ran head long through chaos towards wherever in that inferno of a horizon the Normandy was. _Fight or die. Fight or die. _The air in her lungs felt like liquid fire as she pumped her arms to the rhythm and sprinted after Anderson's retreating back. Not for the first time since she'd met him all those years ago she wondered where the hell he got his energy from. _I'm at __least__ half his age, damn it, and I still can't catch the man_.

She redoubled her efforts and fell in beside him, thankful for the familiar weight of the Phalanx pistol she'd taken from a fallen Alliance soldier in her hand. Her fingers gripped it tight... too tight, and Eve scowled at the fear causing the tension. _Sort it out, woman, you don't have time for this!_ She forced herself to breathe, to scan her surroundings.

Reapers.

Everywhere.

Descending from the skies, their claws flexing with menace as they grasped whatever entered their path. Buildings destroyed, vehicles scattered... and the people..._ God, the people..._ Eve's eyes hardened as a wave of icy resolve flowed through her, steeling her as her chest tightened. She glanced at Anderson and met the man's dark eyes with understanding. They dug their heals in and ran harder... until a Reaper's boom joined with an explosion of masonry and twisted metal and Eve was flung from her feet.

The vibrations resonated through her even as she was tossed through the air like a rag doll. The noise drilled through her, seeming to come both from within and without her at the same time. It struck deep and menacing, ripping through her body and speaking directly to the primitive part of her mind, seeking to paralyse through fear. Eve moaned as her body was slammed into the floor, her breath exploding from her chest. Her ears still ringing, she narrowed her eyes in anger and struggled to re-focus as the dust settled. The booms seemed distant now, everything out of sync as she struggled to push herself upright.

She blinked and found a hand grasping hers, tugging her to her feet. "Come on, get up girl." Anderson muttered, glancing around them, trying to get his bearings. Eve snorted and hefted herself up, her eyes also darting about. They'd slid down a few levels, and were now on the street, streets being frantically emptied of shell-shocked civilians by equally terrified Alliance and Police Officers.

"Still ordering me about, old man?"

"Humph... live with it, soldier." He winked at her wryly, a weary sparkle dancing behind his eyes that faded as the echoes of more explosions vibrated through them. He tapped his Omni-tool in frustration. "Major Alenko, report. What's your location?"

Static. Then an inaudible voice crackling in the dusty air. Anderson puffed in exasperation and shook the Omni-tool uselessly, an obsolete gesture left over from generations past when technology failed to work, Shepherd realised, and was reminded again of her mentor's age.

Eve put her hand on his shoulder and nodded forwards. "We should keep going. Try to find a radio."

Anderson frowned, but took off in a jog and Eve scrambled after him, wincing slightly at a tell tale ache along her left hand side. "We've got to get you to that ship." He told her. "... and from there to the Citadel. We need the combined forces of all our allies if we're going to stand even the slightest chances against these things."

"Me?" Eve muttered under her breath, her head still groggy from her fall... then stopped, cocking her head to one side as she listened intently. Beyond the booms of the reapers, and the screams of the civilian population there was another sound. A growling rumble, something animalistic coming from the rubble ahead of them. She half raised her left hand in a gesture to slow and realised that Anderson had already moved to her side, his pistol in his hands. Eve activated her omni-tool on instinct before gripping her own pistol with both hands, crouching low as she edged forward.

There was movement ahead. Five figures emerging from the remains of what were once crisp and tidy office buildings. Unlike the panicked civilians these figures were unhurried and appeared to be scavenging, picking their way through the wreckage on the streets.

Eve squinted at them, then moaned softly under her breath. "Anderson, those are..."

"Husks." He finished grimly, lowering his voice. "They're husks."

"Yeah, but, not, not the usual kind. Those are different." Her eyes widened as she observed them, taking everything in and filing it away. Sickening guilt washed over her as she took in their features. Unmistakably Batarian. Multiple eyes, a wide mouth opened in an eternal scream, a mockery of the pride of their race. A bulbous, cancerous back supported the weight of a hand cannon... a cannon that had been integrated into the creatures' flesh. Eve felt her stomach clench and her muscles flinched. _Is that my fault?_ _My choices weakened and destroyed the Batarians' ability to defend what was left... God... _Her inner doubt flailed in a panic, the husks moving closer, the smell of decaying flesh washing over her.

_**You made the choice you had to. The only choice you could. **_

_The only choice I could? Right._

She tensed, then flexed, poised on the balls of her feet, ready to launch herself forwards. Then did just that, tossing a standard sentry turret into the mix before activating a stream of subatomic particles that snapped at the creatures as she charged, freezing the nearest to a solid block of ice before it jumped to the next, sheathing it in thick frost. A frost that tinkled in a pleasant paradox as it cracked and fell to the floor as number two flexed its muscles with a growl. A growl that Anderson echoed as his pistol emptied a clip into the first's monstrous torso until it rang with the unmistakable tones of over heating, the impact causing the husk to shatter with the clash of a hundred glasses breaking. "Bloody hell, Shephard, will you _warn_ me when you're going to..."

But she was gone, charging forwards as her fingers fluttered over her omni-tool activating a shower of fiery plasma directed straight into the hideous and twisted scream of the second husk. Twisting with the grace of a dancer Eve spun and then dropped low into a crouch, taking in the rest of the field. Anderson was frowning as he ducked behind some wreckage, his pistol barking out single shots as the remaining three husks ignored the humans as the turret did its work of distract and divide.

She calculated which husk had the most damage done to it and raised her pistol, hesitating for a split second, then gulped as one of the creature's fell... and the remaining two fell upon it, scrabbling over each other in a feeding frenzy. Eve watched aghast as they ignored the fire power of her turret in their race to feed upon their fallen comrade. _Cannibals? What the fuc...?!_ and the Normandy appeared behind them, its side hatches opening.

_The cavalry... _ She noted with a sinking feeling in her stomach as she spied the unmistakable form of Kaidan. She cocked an eyebrow at Anderson and smirked suddenly. "You going to let them steal our glory, old man?!" He grinned back at her, and they both ran at the remaining pair of husks, pistols striking true as they jumped over their hunched forms and sprinted for the ship ahead of them.

Eve ran through the nightmare. She ran and sensed electricity in the air as she passed through it, sparks and flames seemed to careen over her skin as she leaped and flew towards the Normandy. She kept her eyes on the ever growing figure of Alenko, focussed on him, yet unable to block her periphery vision completely. Reapers. Her chest tightened and burned. They were here. On _her_ ground. In _her _home, damn it. It made her blood boil with frustration and rage.

And fear. Fear that everything she'd known and loved was slipping through her fingers.

With the Normandy suddenly looming she leaned forwards, bracing her feet on the ground and digging her toes into the soles of her boots, wondering with a sudden and random clarity of thought if she'd ever feel the Earth's soil under her again. She hit the deck with a grunt and rolled to take the impact, shaking off what she thought was Alenko's hand on her shoulder as she rose and turned to catch Anderson's hand.

But it never appeared in the opening.

She clung to the edge of the hatch as the ship bobbed and weaved over the surface of what was left of the city, struggling to maintain her balance as she eyed Anderson's motionless figure standing isolated in the killing ground beneath them.

He jabbed his finger in her direction and raised his voice to a shout above the ship's engines. "The Citadel! Get Earth her allies!"

_Oh, HELL no... _

Eve's mouth opened in a retort as she moved to jump back to the ground but was held back by a burly arm from behind her as the Normandy swerved suddenly to avoid a fiery missile from above.

"You _make_ the Council listen, girl. _I'll _be counting on you." He held her gaze, making sure his message hit home before she nodded brusquely, shrugging off whatever grunt's arm was holding her firm with an angry snarl.

Anderson grinned suddenly, his features impish with mischief as he tossed something to her... something small and metallic that glinted in the air, reflecting the sparks in the sky before it entered the hold, sliding along the floor until it came to a halt. Eve made no attempt to catch it, instead watching as Anderson turned, raising his hand in a lazy farewell before he darted into the maelstrom. She managed to fabricate a single, hasty Defence Drone on his position before Normandy's engines flared for space flight, and the hatch doors sealed with a hiss in front of her face.

She turned, noting without acknowledging his hurried salute that the 'burly grunt's arm' belonged to James Vega, former guard and enforced Poker buddy before she caught Alenko's earnest look.

Ignoring him she activated her communicator as she felt Normandy tilt and soar.

"Joker, I assume you're flying this thing?"

"Surgically attached and never..."

She walked over to where Anderson's thrown object had landed and bent to reach it, curling her fingers over the rounded edges in a nostalgic caress.

"Take us to the Citadel, get us out of here."

"Well... sure, but Hackett's on the comm and..."

Eve barely heard the words as she looked down at her hand, uncurling her fingers with a sigh. Her tags... and with it the weight of duty that came with them. She pushed past the two men in front of her and made her way to the Comm Room. "Alenko, you know what to do."

She paced away, tossing her head slightly as she let the tags fall over her head and slide under her uniform. "You stupid bastard." She muttered under her breath.

* * *

Author's note

One of my favourite quotes from ME3 is from Bailey when he talks about the 'end of days', but darn it if that title hadn't already been taken! Not to be deterred I fell upon 'Eschaton'... which essentially means the same thing. End of days. Judegement Day... it all fits with the wonderful mess that Bioware created, so I went with it.

On a personal note, this is the first thing I've been able to write in what seems like forever - I'm RUSTY. I apologise and I'll aim to improve asap!

On a technical note, I'm an emotional player... not a great technical genius. Correct me on all my inconsistencies if you like, I'll be grateful, but behind the scenes I'll probably just blink at you!

A message for Setrus who told me "We fight, or we die." is the worst strategic advice he's ever heard. Stop ruining my fun. ;-) Thanks for jumping to my every whim. :-)


	2. Chapter 2

Kaidan's eyes were boring into the back of Eve's head.

She could feel the intensity of it as a pressure that drove her forwards, a heavy rage adding to that of the Reaper attack. It burned; a mix of confusion, regret and anger... and the more she felt the heat of it, the colder her blood seemed to run. A surge of icy tingles to numb her senses and block out the words he'd just thrown at her.

Words were all they had now. Words and twisted memories that were riddled with sour bitterness.

"_You were standing in front of me, but you were with Cerberus." _

"_...guilt...surviving... don't know who either of us is anymore..."_

The penitent email he'd sent months ago... the one she hadn't answered... was ingrained in her memory, but had been pushed unceremoniously to the corner, visited only in the dark time before sleep claimed her.

Then of all the times to choose, whilst Earth was in flames, and they were fighting on the red sand of Mars rather than the streets of her home world, he'd thrown everything in her face – again, and she didn't know what hurt most. She told herself it was anger... that he was distracting her from their task, but it was more than that. He'd asked the questions she'd been too afraid to ask herself. The ones that prickled at the back of her conscience if she failed to occupy her every waking moment. A resurgent wave of panic that threatened to tear away her self belief.

Self. Belief.

_Am I still 'me'? Can I expect him to believe it if I don't know the truth myself?_

"_They rebuilt you!" _The words refused to go away. They circled in her mind like an cornered beast unable to find an escape route. Eve sighed, haunted by the uncertainty his words gave her as she negotiated the corridors of the Mars facility, traces of Cerberus leading them forwards. She quickened her pace, trying to distance herself from the words physically if she couldn't do it mentally.

It only made the emotions spin faster.

She'd been told it was her imagination, that there was no way she could actually _feel_ the implants Cerberus had used to resurrect her, but in times of stress, she swore she could sense something deep inside her... a mechanised darkness that wrapped itself around her human soul and pulsed as it activated. A surge of electrical current that made her feel as if her hair was standing on end, a metallic tang in her mouth putting her teeth on edge. Eve's body had been invaded. It was a battleground, the conflict between organic and machine one she lived with every day.

Her humanity had been compromised, and no medical expert could tell her what would happen if they attempted to remove the network of cybernetics that Cerberus had used to... Eve sighed as Maiden's words returned to her again. _...rebuild me._ _A ghost in the machine. A cancer... and every decision I make I question because of that shit they put inside of me_.

"**And if they hadn't..?"**

The unbidden voice, the devil's advocate in her head, got to the heart of the matter and a satisfied smirk twisted her lips. _If they hadn't I'd still be a solid mass of space debris and the Reapers would have hit Earth sooner. Cerberus be damned, I'll use whatever edge I can get if it gives us even the slightest chance of beating those things. _

The group were approaching what looked like some sort of storage and workshop area and Eve gestured for Kaidan and Vega to enter before her. Vega headed to their right, his solid presence dwarfing her as he passed. Kaidan went left, his conciliatory dark eyes meeting hers before he entered the room. She could feel the familiar prickle of his biotics as he passed... a tingle in the air around him as he prepared for their possible use and her lips twisted into a grimace, her nose wrinkling in frustration. The feeling triggered all sorts of memories she really could have done without!

_Damn it. He's already sorry and so am I. I think I'd rather still be mad. _

Eve was hot on their heels, her lithe figure framed in the doorway for a moment before she moved to take the central position. "Alenko, Vega, is it clear?" She snapped, pushing everything but their mission from her thoughts as she focussed on the task at hand. Hackett's wild goose chase. The proverbial needle in a haystack. With Cerberus troops one step ahead of them she doubted the data they needed would be conveniently waiting for them in a folder marked 'Reaper-slaying for Dummies'! She was a soldier, not an archivist! Though the presence of her former allies did speak for something. If The Illusive Man thought there was something here worth having, then Eve wanted it even more.

A clang in the distance had all three of them bringing their weapons to bear in synchronised unison, the barrels tracking the clamour. A scuffle, then pounding, boots against metal. Bodies hurtling through the conduits above their heads. Shouts, followed by gun shots. A hatch was blown outwards and a female figure in white leapt downwards, somehow managing to navigate herself gracefully to the floor before two Cerberus troopers tumbled after her.

Eve felt Vega tense in readiness beside her, but Kaidan's lips parted in an 'oh' of surprised recognition.

Liara... Looking every inch the dignified scientist in her white lab coat. Only, scientists didn't routinely carry pistols, and Liara had hers in her hand, holding it almost lazily as her left hand blazed electric blue. Her eyes were hard as the blue flames dancing on her fist was thrown towards her pursuers, the effect lifting them, tossing them forcibly into the wall to their left and holding them suspended helplessly above the ground.

The scientist raised her chin in defiance as she stalked towards them, her white boots clicking on the floor. She cocked her head to one side as if trying to come to a decision, then visibly shrugged as she raised her pistol, executing the troopers with two quick shots to the head. The bodies, released from their biotic prison, slid downwards.

Liara's back was turned before they hit the floor, the Asari half raising her pistol again in hesitation as she blinked in surprise at the three Alliance soldiers staring at her in stunned silence.

A genuine smile tugged at the corners of Eve's mouth. The first smile in what seemed like a year. _Has it really only been a few hours since the attack started? _"Stand down, James, the lady's with us." Eve ordered the bewildered marine.

"Lady?! If you say so..." The man muttered under his breath as his eyebrows shot upwards.

Eve walked forwards, her hand held out in greeting, a weight lifting from her shoulders as she gripped her friend's hand tightly... a little **too** tightly based on the surprised flicker in the Asari's blue eyes before she grinned. And Shepard grinned back just as widely feeling like a child. _Thank God..._

~o~

Jack Sherlock (jack_jack1995)

to Alexandra Weaver (dreamweaver95)

Lexie

So, It's taken me a long time to write this to you. I'm sitting here writing and re-writing. I can't find the right words to explain to you. To be honest, I'm not sure I understand it fully myself.

I'm going away for a few weeks... to stay with my cousin... and I'll be there until the end of the summer. My Mum and Dad think it's for the best. Lexie this is hard, but I think this is the end for us. I've loved you, loved being with you, but things have changed. So much is about to happen to both of us. We're moving on, and in different directions. I have uni to think about... my whole life is about to change and that's intimidating enough without everything else.

Spending time together has been amazing. It was everything I hoped it would be, and you've taught me so much. Every day with you has been magical and I'll remember our time together forever. Please believe me when I say that. It's just... I know it makes me seem shallow... but we're both so young, and I can't understand what's happening to you right now. I can't deal with any of it. I'm just being honest. I... I can't cope with feeling sad all of the time, and that's how I feel when I'm with you now, Lexie. I'm scared when I'm with you; I can't watch what's happening. I'm so sorry.

I need some time to clear my head. Maybe when things settle down we can... you know...

Jack

Alexandra Weaver (dreamweaver95)

_to Jack Sherlock (jack_jack1995)_

Jack, I think you're right.

It makes you seem shallow.

Alexandra

"**He's right though, isn't he?"** _Stupid rational thought, you can piss off!_ Alexandra's fingers tapped in repressed anger against the keyboard, her eyes tracking the figures' movements on the monitor as she blinked back frustrated tears. _If he's right, why does it feel like betrayal?_

* * *

Author's note.

This story isn't exactly an ME3 retelling. For sure it will follow it, but it will jump around a little. Thanks to Setrus – because I genuinely can't live without you. You inspire me every day... though you refuse to let me live off cola. You're horrible. ;-) And yeah... and no one inspires me to want to do my best than you do. :-) ;-) To Bebus and Vector 71 , a thanks for providing something in the way of a muse with your insightful questions and intelligent reasoning... and to Janizary and Roxfox for being completely bonkers in your outragous praise! :-D Chapter 2 wouldn't have happened without you.. so blaming you. ;-) In all honesty – thank you for being there even though collectively you're scattered thousands of miles apart. Love how fanfic can bring people together. :-)


	3. Chapter 3

It started as a memory, then twisted into dream... of Shepard and autumn mists.

Shapes in the dislocated darkness. Wisps of grey fog twining themselves around dusky tall shapes. _Trees_ she thought, and blinked as the darkness lifted slightly, allowing her to make out a thicket. Alexandra could make out colours now. Russet reds and gold leaves drifting from the branches and fluttering through the gloom. Her eyes flickered to Eve's back and noted the N7 standing proud against her armour, the only clear and visible thing in this world of shifting veils and colours.

They both stood, mesmerised as the breeze stirred a wave of leaves, sending them into a whirling and ancient waltz that fluttered like flocking birds – a dance nature had mastered before humans were there to marvel at it. Then voices. A chatter at first. A bubble of child's laughter. Shepard's head tilted slightly to the side at that. The voices echoed, distorting as they journeyed from happiness to something else. Something that chilled. Something that made Eve tense and start towards the trees.

Eve started to jog and Alexandra ran at her shoulder, so close they were almost one, a shadow of one another... there, but not quite. She looked down and found she had no true body of her own to run with, only a flickering ethereal outline, a body of pale shimmering lights.

The world was moving past her, yet she had no feet to pound the ground with, no arms to steady herself as they moved over the uneven ground. She would have blinked in surprise and opened her mouth to say something... but she could only think. _You're not really here, _her dream-self told her, detached and emotionless. _You're a ghost. She can't see you. You don't exist here in this place. _

Alexandra studied the way Eve's casual ponytail swung as she ran. Glossy, tumbling, dark curls. _Yours used to do that_ Dream-self noted with sympathy as her non-hands bitterly started towards her own head and an icy cold ran swelled in her chest.

_Used to_.

The world shifted slightly and Alexandra and Eve stumbled in unison as the ground seemed to fall away into darkness, casting them into a dizzying and tangled heap. They righted themselves, standing, and Alexandra was aware suddenly of the silence. A complete absence of sound, the pressure building in her head, her heart pounding and her mouth mutely working as she struggled for breath.

_You think that's air you're breathing? _Dream-self mocked her and Alexandra would have giggled hysterically if the leaves falling from the sky hadn't taken on a new form. No longer a mass of swirling gold. This was now ash. Falling on her upturned face like snow flakes. They settled on her lips and tasted like death.

It was colder now, icy crystals seeping into her incorporeal form and slowing her movements. Eve didn't seem to be affected, moving gracefully off to the left, her attention caught by a sudden blaze of light that lit up the darkness like a beacon. Alexandra stood frozen, watching as Eve's hands reached out to the only source of warmth... a source she couldn't reach herself, no matter how hard she struggled. She watched as the light pulsed, then flamed. Fingers of fire licking out towards Shepard's armour, twining itself around her limbs in an eerie caress. Shepard's eyes widened, her arms held hesitatingly before her... unable to draw them back, curiously thrust forward, her eyes held fast by whatever she saw in the depths of the flames rising higher by the moment.

Then another light to her right. Dim and smaller. Grey and pulsating. It looked... tainted. A black shadow surrounding it, encroaching as the light tried valiantly to hold it off. Then it changed... grey smoke morphing itself into a grotesque figure.

Alexandra felt herself pulled involuntarily towards it... her heart crying out in protest as the figure pulled her in. She struggled against it, feet scrabbling against the loamy earth, her non-feet kicking up clods of mud, the comforting feel of it denied her as her ghostly body acknowledged it didn't belong and hung mid air, denying the chaos of her mind. _ A slave to the weaknesses of your body_ Dream-self mocked, and drew her in closer to the sickening grey figure rising before her.

Its face mirrored hers. A parody, yet surprisingly accurate – and that's what hurt the most. A pale, gaunt figure rose before her, its skin pale, an almost translucent beauty in it. Alexandra watched in horror, her heart skipping a beat as the thing before her locked frightened eyes with hers, reached out and grabbed her ghostly arms... _God, it needs me, doesn't it have anyone else?_ She caught herself thinking before its skin mottled, its eyes widening and tearing. It was the skin around the eyes that she noticed first.. little blisters that bubbled... tiny eruptions of fluid that made her body of light flinch away in disgust.

The skin rippled alarmingly, as if a thousand creatures were moving beneath the surface, and the thing opened it's mouth in agony as the flesh started to roll back from around its lips. Alexandra whimpered, struggling fruitlessly in its grasp, trying in vain to pull herself away as her eyes took in the horror before her. Skin rotting and falling off in stinking, steaming clumps. Maggots crawling from the eye sockets and falling to the ground, worms and beetles spewing from the thing's nostrils and gaping mouth.

Alexandra heaved, her mouth opening in a silent scream before a computerised voice in the distance pulled her hard, yanking her into wakefulness...

_You have email..._

Alexandra woke with a start, her head jerking from her desk, the headphones slipping off with a thud as she blinked, her heart fluttering in her chest as she tried to calm herself. A message icon blinked on the monitor, hovering just over Liara, the character's question of what was bothering Shepard as yet unanswered. Alexandra wiped a weary hand over her face, then froze as it came away slightly sticky. She closed her eyes tightly and sighed, before forcing herself to look down at the unopened white envelope she'd fallen asleep on... the crisp paper now blemished with crimson spots, blossoming like roses as the paper absorbed the moisture.

She grabbed the envelope and crumpled it in her fists, her eyes tearing as her shoulders starting to shake, then swallowed hard. Alexandra's eyes narrowed as she bit her bottom lip hard, then made a decision and tore the envelope open, her hands trembling as she pulled out the letter inside.

~o~

"Just like old times."

And he'd smirked at her, if ever you could call that expression on his reptilian face a smirk.

Eve had stood before Garrus with a wild-eyed grin as bright as the burning planet behind her. Palaven was burning. Earth was in flames. The Turian hierarchy that all their hopes rested on was in chaotic disarray, the Reapers looming above their heads intent on exterminating all intelligent life and Shepard and Garrus stood there grinning at each other.

Relief.

It had flooded through her like a drug, warm and comforting... and with it came strength. A powerful reassurance that despite the death raining down on them, as long as she had Garrus all of that was irrelevant. She had her wing man back, and the comfortable way he'd fallen in beside her as they'd started to run towards the place the Turian had last seen Victus gave her a confidence she hadn't realised she'd been missing. It had started as a hollowness in her solar plexus that was conceived with the sonic boom of the first Reaper she'd heard striking Earth. Kaidan's suspicious distrust had fostered it, making it twist into a panicked self-doubt that she'd struggled to overcome, but all of that paled for the moment with the knowledge that someone had her back now.

Shepard and Vakarian. Reunited against the odds. Yeah, it was going to be a good day.

If only those Brutes would quit stomping around and play the same game!

Victus' camp was anarchy. Pandemonium against a backdrop of bedlam. Turian soldiers were scattering to the edges of the enclosure, or scrabbling up to higher ground to avoid being trampled by the two huge monsters rampaging through the discord. Even the circling cannibals kept their distance as they skirted the killing ground, ducking behind the boulders and rocky pinnacles that littered the ground, emerging like ghouls to feast whenever a comrade fell.

Corinthus had reported on these new husks. Hulking beasts, twisted in the macabre. Turian and Krogan. Ancient opponents, their bodies fused in an absurd irony. Krogan bulk and Turian sinew was covered in plate armour, and a little Reaper tech thrown in for good measure. They were deceptively fast, their huge claws capable of disembowelling a man with ease, or peeling back the roof of an armoured vehicle like it was the wrapping of a ration pack.

And there were two of them... between Eve and Victus, and a summit that was too important to be messing around wasting time in this perverse theatre for.

Eve's weight was balanced on the balls of her feet, bracing herself to roll as she was charged by the nearest of the Brutes. She let out a round of pistol fire, rolling at the last instant to her right, her heart pounding as she rose into a sprint, running for cover. Her shields flared as bullets from covering cannibal fire grazed her, and she flung herself behind the nearest crates, flattening herself against its side as she struggled to catch her breath.

_You're the smallest and most agile_ She mimicked Vakarian with a snarl in her mind. _You be the bait and we'll hit them hard from the sidelines... _She activated her comms. "Garrus, about those sidelines... any chance you could get off them and come give me a hand!?" She growled, sinking lower as a spray of rock particles were blasted apart where her ear had just been. "I'm a sitting duck down here!".

"I thought ducks _swam_..." was his only reply, his sniper's shots picking off the smaller husks on the field calmly and decidedly. She glanced around the crate quickly, catching site of the Turian marksman higher on a ridge, bringing his rifle around to shoot again at the rear of the brute nearest to her. "Besides, it's an education how much lead these things can take in the ass. This thing looks like a peppered steak from up here."

"Always thinking of your stomach, Vakarian." She grumbled as she rolled out of cover again, darting further away from the brute duo. She tapped on her omni-tool, boosting the rear of her shields as she yelled an order to Vega. "James, frag grenades over my head!"

"You got it, Commander... though you might want to run, you know, a bit faster!" _Bloody cheek! _She sensed rather than saw the grenades travel over her head, the impact into the monsters sending her stumbling slightly, her arms wind-milling inelegantly. "Any time you want to get your bulk down here to do the running is fine with me, James!" She managed to blurt out and then turned, her eyes narrowing as the dust cleared and she weighed up the damage.

The first Brute was standing dazed, its claw shredded in the blast and held on only by torn flesh and tangled tendons. She took advantage of its confusion to blast it with a series of superheated plasma bursts and blinked as it blasted straight through it, leaving a searing hole in the centre of its smoking chest. She blinked, then laughed a barking and surprised "Hah...!" before shouting out a new order.

"Guys... either of you got any incendiary ammo up there?"

The hissing sound in the air as Vega's heated ammo rained down onto the second Brute making it turn its back to her was the only answer she needed... and she raised her omni-tool again, focussing its full power on its exposed back.

_I knew this was going to be a good day_.

* * *

Author's note:

10 points for anyone who can spot the Morpheus/Matrix quote. I just couldn't help myself. :-D

Thanks to Setrus for the constant encouragement, and for putting up with all my rubbish. You changed my life forever the day you walked into it. :-) Thanks also to you other guys who know who you are. Your company and stories inspire me to carry on trying. :-)


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